


Winning Love By Daylight

by wordbending



Series: Her Universe [1]
Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: (sort of), Conventions, Cosplay, Crossdressing, F/F, F/M, Fluff, Sailor Moon References, Trans Female Character
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-08
Updated: 2018-12-08
Packaged: 2019-09-14 04:43:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,378
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16906311
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wordbending/pseuds/wordbending
Summary: It's the first ever BeachCon, and Connie has invited Steven to attend!There's only one problem: Steven has only one particular costume in mind. Can he face his fears and dress up as his favorite character...?





	Winning Love By Daylight

**Author's Note:**

> This takes place before the rest of my series Her Universe, based on [nagginggargoyle's](https://archiveofourown.org/users/nagginggargoyle/pseuds/nagginggargoyle) series [Equiblrium](http://https://archiveofourown.org/works/5163491/chapters/11892266), where Steven is a trans woman. Because of that, though Steven is still trans, she's dealing with pre-transition fears and feelings and is referred to with "he" pronouns here.

“Hey, Steven!” says Connie’s voice over the phone, sounding out of breath. “You heard about _it,_ right?”

“Um…” Steven replies, trying to think of what the heavily emphasized _it_ would be. A gem monster? Malachite returning? _Another_ invasion of the planet by Homeworld?

...Someone’s birthday?

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” he says cheerfully.

“BeachCon!” Connie all but shouts into the phone. She sounds so excited Steven is half-afraid she could actually burst. “The anime slash video game convention! The very first one ever! Um, not the very first anime convention ever, but the first BeachCon ever... uh, you know what I mean, right? Well, what I’m trying to say is, it’s going to be _here!_ It’s a few months away!”

Steven blinks. He hadn’t heard of it, but more importantly… “What’s a convention?”

“Steven, _oh my goodness,”_ Connie says, and Steven’s heart sinks, because it almost sounds like Connie is making fun of him. But Connie would never, ever do that. “You don’t know what a convention is?”

“Uh, nope! Should I?”

“You know what Beach-a-Palooza is, right?”

Steven nods. “Of course! I perform every single year! Sometimes I even wear clothes!”

There’s a long pause from Connie’s end of the phone. “...OK. Um, anyway, it’s like Beach-a-Palooza but for _huge nerds._ You know, the kind of people who watch anime and buy lots of anime figurines, that kind of thing.”

“Like Ronaldo?”

Connie makes a disgusted sputtering noise. “Er, I guess, sure. Like Ronaldo. But I meant, um, more…” Her voice trails off. “Like me…”

Connie takes a deep breath.

“Anyway!” she continues, adopting her ‘explaining things to Steven’ voice. “A ‘convention’ is where you do all these nerdy things, like buying merchandise, buying people’s art, playing video games, and best of all, dressing as your favorite characters!”

The moment she says that, Steven has an image in his head immediately. His heart stops.

“Um,” he says carefully, “did you say… dressing as your favorite characters?”

“Yeah!”

Steven’s voice lowers. If his phone was on a cord, he’d be wringing the cord in his fingers. “ _Any_ character?”

“Uh, yeah, that’s right,” Connie replies, sounding confused. “Did you have someone in mind...?”

Steven nods, even though Connie can’t see him. “Yeah, I did.” Before she can ask him who it is, he adds, “So, um. What day’s the convention?”

“You’ll go?” Connie says. He can practically hear her smiling. “That’s great, Steven! I haven’t even asked my mom for tickets yet… your dad will let you go, though, right?”

“Definitely!”

“It’s from September 12th through the 14th! But I’ll probably only be able to go on the 12th… you know, with school and everything. I hope that’s OK.”

“That’s OK, Connie. I’ll make sure to be there!”

“Don’t forget your costume! Will you need any help making it or ordering it or anything…?”

Steven tries to imagine Connie helping him with _this_ costume, and he gets a twinge of a feeling he can’t really place. It’s something like… well, if he’s honest with himself, fear. It makes him gulp.

“Um, nope! I don’t think so. Thanks anyway!” he says.

“Alright,” she replies. “I can’t wait to see you there, Steven!”

“Can’t wait to see you either, Connie!”

* * *

Steven’s heart pounds as he presses the order button for a sailor fuku, a wig with gem accessories, a tiara, and a wand. He’d normally order them off of Sahara, which is where he buys just about everything online, but he’s half afraid of what that will do to his recommendations. So this time, he orders them on CosplayGems, which was the first result when he searched for cosplay websites. It’s pretty expensive, even considering it’s (ugh) kid sized - but he’d already asked his Dad to cover it, which he’d been happy to do.

Now all he has to do is wait. He sits in front of his phone, twiddling his thumbs.

And waits.

And waits.

He checks the tracking information. How long is it going to take? Like, five minutes, right?

 _“A week?!”_ he shouts at his phone. “I can’t wait that long! I wish I could see it now!”

The moment he says that, he hears a _shinnnng_ sound from deep inside the house, within the Temple. He knows that sound. It’s either the sound of Amethyst, Pearl, or Garnet’s room opening… which is impossible because they’re on a mission… or the sound of Rose’s room opening, beckoning him inside.

He smiles fiendishly. Well, nobody said he _couldn’t_ use his mom’s room as a makeshift dressing room.

Hopping off the stool, he makes his way to Rose’s room. His heart starts to pound as he gets closer and closer to it, for reasons he’s not really sure about. It’s just clothes, right? All he’s doing is trying on clothes. Sure, he might only wear one style of clothes every single day (one day it’ll catch on as the new fashion, he’s sure of it!), but how hard can trying on clothes _be_?

The moment he steps through the threshold into Rose’s room, he immediately blurts out, “I want to try those clothes on!”

Just as quickly, in a puff of pink clouds, an entire costume shop appears, a quaint little white one called “SEW & SEW TAILOR” - exactly like the one Connie used… that one time he’d rather not think about, actually. That had been _awkward._ He still wondered if Connie thought about all those things the fake Connie had said about him...

Shaking his head to dislodge those thoughts, he steps into the costume shop. Inside it are racks and racks of sailor fukus, all in his size, tiaras, wigs, wands, brooches, and all kinds of other items and accessories from his favorite show. There’s even black and white cats with crescent moons on their foreheads, laying on the counter!

“Can you talk?” he says to them eagerly.

“Meow,” says the black cat, raising its head.

“Close enough! Thanks for letting me use your store!”

He takes a sailor fuku off the rack and a tiara and a wig off the shelves. That will do for now, he thinks, as he carries all of it into the dressing room to try it on.

The first thing he notices is that there’s a mirror right in front of him, and he’s standing in front of it carrying a sailor fuku and a wig. He feels himself blush again, stupidly, and he shuts his eyes and tries to focus.

“Um, can you get rid of the mirror, please?” he says, and the mirror vanishes in a puff of white clouds. “That’s better.”

He sets the clothes and the wig down on a little wooden corner table and gets to work undressing. In a few moments, he’s put his shirt and his shorts neatly in one corner, and he’s staring at the blue sailor skirt like it’s going to bite him.

He doesn’t know what he’s worried about. It’s just clothes, like he has to keep reminding himself. Meaningless strips of fabric, right? He feels like Pearl would say that if she were there.

But… he’s kind of glad nobody else is here to see him try on a skirt. That’s weird, right? For boys to wear skirts? He’s never seen Ronaldo or Peedee or Jamie or any other boys he knows wearing skirts. Lars would probably freak out at the very idea, although he’s not sure why - Lars does freak out at a lot of things. They all probably _could_ wear skirts or dresses, if they wanted to, but they don’t. There must be a reason for it.

And that reason has to be the strange churning in his gut as he looks down at the skirt. The churning that tells him “You shouldn’t wear this. You shouldn’t _want_ to wear this.”

But his favorite heroes are all girls! Sure, there’s Hero and Sanic, he likes those guys just fine, but none of them compare to Makoto or Minako or _Usagi!_ Makoto is big and tall and strong, and Minako wants to be an idol which sounds like the best job ever (next to being a Crystal Gem, of course). And then there’s Usagi, who is just the _best,_ OK, she’s ditzy and clumsy and not very good at school but she doesn’t let that stop her from saving the day!

And there’s, of course, the other Crystal Gems, who aren’t technically _girls_ but who look and dress like girls! And there’s Connie, who is his hero too in so many ways! Is there something _wrong_ with admiring girls and wanting to be like a girl? Definitely not!

So what is he so afraid of…?

He doesn’t know, but he knows he wants to do this, no matter what it is he’s afraid of. He’s not going to let anything stop him now. With a nod and a determined smile, he starts to put on the skirt, hopping on one foot as he gets it around his legs and pulls it up to his waist. Then he takes the blouse and (after accidentally trying to put his head through the sleeve) slips it on.

If his heart was pounding before, it's nothing compared to when he looks down and sees the cute white blouse with the big red bow on _his_ body, _his_ legs peeking out from under the blue skirt. It feels… so right, somehow. So perfect. And it's thrilling, too, he thinks. If he's not _supposed_ to do it, if this is some shameful secret, he doesn't know why… but it kind of makes him like it more.

He doesn't hesitate to put on the wig, to complete the look. It’s a little hard to get it on around his hair, to make sure it’s seated on his head properly, but he thinks he manages. Sticking his tongue out to focus, he puts the fake “gemstones” in too.

Now… the mirror. The whole point is he wants to see what he looks like, so… he has to bring the mirror back.

He gulps. His heart feels like it’s going to explode out of his chest, like an alien in a horror movie. What is he afraid of, he thinks? What is he expecting to see…?

His voice strangles in his throat as he says, “I wish the mirror was back.”

And the mirror reappears in a poof of white smoke.

And a girl stares back through it, a girl wearing a white blouse and a blue skirt. A girl with red gemstones in her long, yellow hair.

For a moment, he almost thinks it’s a taller, thinner girl, with long legs and huge eyes. But then his vision adjusts and he sees that the girl is squatter, shorter, chubbier. It’s… him. Steven.

But he isn’t disappointed at all. No, he thinks - he looks _adorable._

He giggles, smiling as widely as he’s ever smiled, and spins around. The skirt swishes around his legs in a way that makes it feel so _real,_ reminding him that it’s him it’s attached to. He’s wearing a _skirt,_ he thinks giddily. A real skirt! And a blouse! And a _wig!_

OK, so those things are made of clouds. But they _feel_ real!

He has to show Connie right away. She’s going to flip, he’s sure of it.

But… when he thinks of showing it to Connie, he gets a sense of dread in the pit of his stomach. What if… what if she doesn’t like it? What if she makes fun of him?

Connie would _never_ do that, he’s sure of it, especially not when he looks so _cute,_ but… what if? What if she did? He tries to imagine it and the very image of Connie laughing at him is the most horrifying thing in the world.

Maybe he doesn’t have to show her _immediately._ Maybe he can wait a few days.

Or a week.

* * *

Every single day of the next week, he goes back into his mother’s room and tries on the clothes, over and over. It almost becomes an obsession, to the point that he thinks it’s starting to worry the gems - or at least Pearl, who quietly mutters “ _Again?”_ whenever he says he’s going into his mother’s room. If Garnet or Amethyst are bothered, it’s less obvious.

But then the fateful day arrives, and Jamie comes to the Temple with a stack of packages, his arms shaking as he tries to hold them all. Steven signs for the delivery, thanks Jamie again and again, and then…

Feels that sense of impending doom he's been feeling the past week. Now there’s no more putting it off. He has to show Connie.

“What you got there, Steve-o?” Amethyst asks from over by the kitchen counter, where she’s eating a week-old pizza. Her voice shakes Steven out of his thoughts.

“I must admit, I’m curious too,” says Pearl, sitting next to her. “This doesn’t have anything to do with why you’ve been going into Ro - your mother’s room the past few weeks, does it?”

“Nope, nothing at all, haha!” he says, the stack of packages wobbling dangerously as he takes them over to the couch and plops them down on it. “Just… um… some new clothes!”

Pearl’s brow furrows. “Are you running low? I thought you just received some new shirts…”

“Eh, leave him alone, P,” says Amethyst, shrugging. “It’s not our business, you know?”

“...I suppose not.”

Once they return to… whatever it was they were doing, Steven stops grinning awkwardly at them and fishes his phone out of his shorts pocket. He dials Connie’s number, which is easy, because it’s one of the only numbers he has.

“Steven?” Connie answers.

“Connie!” he shout-whispers, cupping his hand over his phone.

“Um, why are you whispering?”

“No reason! Anyway, my costume arrived!”

“Your cosplay?!”

“Yeah! That!”

“Ooooh!” Connie squeals. “I can’t wait to see it! You want me to come over?”

Steven glances at Pearl and Amethyst.

“Uhhhhh… how about… I come over to your place?”

“...OK,” Connie replies. “I don’t see why not. See you soon!”

* * *

One bus ride later, he arrives at the Maheswaran’s residence holding a stack of packages as tall as he is. Connie’s mother _tsks_ at him, saying he’ll strain his back muscles, but Connie only laughs when she sees it - “if I had known you were carrying _this_ much, I would’ve come over for sure!”

Connie insists on opening the packages right away, but as soon as she suggests that, Steven nothing less than panics. He’s unable to stop himself from blushing as he tells her that it will _totally_ ruin the surprise, and that maybe it’d be better if her mom opened the packages and he just changed in her bathroom?

Connie reluctantly agrees, and that’s how he finds himself in Connie’s bathroom, in his underwear, staring at the same set of clothes he’s worn seven times now, the same wig he’s worn seven times now, the same wand he’s waved around seven times now.

He doesn’t realize how long he’s been staring at them until Connie quietly knocks on the bathroom door and says, “Steven, you OK in there?”

Steven thinks about saying “No, no, I’m fine!” but instead he shuffles his feet and says, just loud enough for Connie to hear, “No.”

“...Want to talk about it?”

Steven sighs, laying down against the door and crossing his arms over his gem. “OK.”

“What’s wrong?”

“I… you’re not going to make fun of my costume, right?”

“Steven, I’d _never_ make fun of you. You know that!”

“Even if it was… a really weird costume?”

“Not even if it was the weirdest, most out-there costume ever.” A pause. “Why don’t you… tell me what it is? Maybe that’d be easier for you.”

Steven feels his heart starting to pound again. But Connie is right - she wouldn’t make fun of him even if he was running around buck-naked. She won’t make fun of him for… for something like this, right?

“Yeah,” he says. “It’s… uh… it’s…”

Connie doesn’t say anything.

“Sailor Moon,” he whispers quietly.

“Sorry, what’d you say?”

He cringes, then repeats himself, a little louder. “Sailor Moon.”

He hears a muffled snicker from the other side of the door and his heart sinks.

“You said you wouldn’t make fun of me…” he mutters.

“No, I’m… I’m so sorry!” Connie’s voice says, clearly panicked. “I’m not making fun of you, I _promise._ It’s just… that’s so _you,_ Steven. It’s adorable. I love it.”

“Really?”

“Really! Of course you would love Sailor Moon. That makes so much sense.”

“But… but Usagi’s a _girl,”_ he says, as if that will explain everything.

“So?”

“I can’t dress up as a _girl!”_

“Why not?”

Steven opens his mouth again to protest, but he finds he can’t get out the words. He doesn’t know what they are.

 _Why_ not? Why _can’t_ he dress up as a girl?

“I dress up as boy characters all the time,” Connie says simply. “But, you know, to be honest, I prefer pants over dresses anyway. Nobody has ever made fun of me for it.”

“But that’s…” Steven tries to say. “That’s _different!”_

“Is it? You know, a hundred years ago, girls wearing pants was a _big deal,_ Steven. Isn’t that silly too? It’s just clothes.”

Steven doesn’t know how to reply to that. She’s _right,_ of course, but he still feels that sense of dread. He ducks his head into his arms, raises his knees up closer to his chest.

“...You’re afraid other people will make fun of you, right?” Connie says.

Steven nods, even though Connie can’t see it, and mumbles, “Uh-huh.”

“I _promise_ nobody is going to make fun of you. Boys dress up as girl characters for conventions all the time. It’s called ‘crossplay’... um, I think.”

Steven tries to imagine a whole group of boys dressed up as girls. His heart skips a beat.

“...Really?”

“I’m not making it up! You’re not weird at all, Steven. And, you know what, who cares if it’s a convention or not? Tons of boys dress up in girl’s clothes! That’s not weird either!”

Now Steven tries to imagine himself dressing up as a girl _all the time._ His heart skips so many beats he feels like he might faint.

“And if anyone gets on your case about it,” Connie continues, “I, Archimicarus, will protect you! I’ll be like your familiar! Or, er, your Tuxedo Mask. I _guess_.”

Steven laughs softly. “Thanks, Connie.”

“So… does that help you feel any better?”

Steven looks up towards the toilet, where the costume pieces are still sitting. “Yeah, I think so.”

“OK, good. You think you’re ready to show me your costume…?”

“Uh-huh.”

“I’ll be waiting outside. Just tell me whenever you’re dressed.”

“OK, Connie.”

* * *

Five minutes later, Steven takes a deep breath.

And shouts, “MOON.... PRISM... POWERRRRRR! MAKE UP!”

With a flourish that would only be enhanced if he was actually surrounded by flowers and glowing ribbons, he throws open Connie’s bathroom door and hops out of it.

“In the name of the moon,” he says, waving his arms in a circle, each around the other. Then he strikes The Pose - one hand pointing forwards like a gun, crossed over the crook of his left arm, with the thumb, index, and pinky fingers of his left hand extended outward. “I will punish you!”

Connie’s grin is unmatched. She has her hands raised to her face as if it will contain her excitement.

Before Steven can react, she pulls him into a hug, squeezing him to her chest. Steven blushes crimson.

“Steven, you are _adorable!_ It looks _perfect_ on you!”

Some part of Steven wants to protest, to say it doesn’t look _that_ great and maybe she’s just exaggerating, but instead, he feels… really happy to hear her say that. He smiles.

“Thanks, Connie.”

“No need to thank me,” she says, breaking away from the hug and smiling down at him. “Thank _you_ for being brave enough to share this with me.”

Steven grins. “No problem!”

* * *

September 12th happens before Steven knows it’s happening, but it’s only once he’s gotten dressed and climbed into the back seat of Connie’s father Doug’s car that the realization hits him. He’s on his way to the Beach City Coliseum and Convention Center (proud host of the first annual BeachCon).  He’s really going.

While dressed up as Sailor Moon.

While dressed up as a _girl._

He tries to be excited about it - really, he does! - but he thinks of people staring at him, anonymous people with mocking, sneering looks. He imagines someone, with Lars' voice for some reason, going “You didn’t really think you could be a _girl,_ did you?” He thinks he’ll be laughed out of the convention. Or… worse, although he’s not sure what could be worse.

He doesn’t realize how much his fear must be showing on his face until Connie, dressed up as Archimicarius, reaches out and rubs his white-gloved hand.

“Are you alright, Steven?” she says, her voice barely above a whisper.

“I’m… I’m fine,” he says, but he doesn’t even sound convincing to himself. One of his eyes is watering, and he reaches up and rubs at it.

“It’s OK, Steven,” she says soothingly. “I don’t want to pressure you. If you don’t want to go…”

“No!” Steven says quickly, a little too loudly. They’re stopped in heavy traffic, and Doug looks up at them through the rear-view mirror, concerned. “No, I definitely want to go. I’m just… scared.”

“It’s OK to be scared,” Connie says, continuing to rub his hand. “It’s _normal_ to be scared. This is a new experience for you, isn’t it? Being out in public like this?”

Steven nods. “Uh-huh.”

“Well, it’s not _totally_ the same thing, but…” She lowers her voice even further. Steven guesses it’s so her dad can’t hear, or knows not to eavesdrop. “For a long time, I was scared to go outside _at all,_ even to go to school. I thought I’d get made fun of by, like, everybody. I thought: I’d rather stay cooped up in my room all day than deal with _that_.”

“But… you did go outside.”

Connie nods. “Right. And it’s because I went outside that I met you, and got to go on all these adventures. I wouldn’t trade that for the world, Steven. And you know what? I was wrong. Nobody makes fun of me. People around here are so nice, and sweet, and _kind._ I’m so glad I got to meet them.”

“So… I shouldn’t be scared either?” Steven says. “Just because I’m dressed like this?”

Connie squeezes his hand. It’s a gentle but firm grip, and Steven finds it reassuring. “That’s right. And I told you, I’ll protect you, no matter what.”

Steven takes a deep breath, then exhales. “OK, Connie. I trust you.”

Conne smiles. “Thank you, Steven.”

* * *

The sense of dread doesn’t go away when Steven climbs out of the car, into the bright sunlight, and comes face-to-face with the crowds of costumed people surrounding the convention center. He swears he feels a million eyes on him, even though if he thinks about it, nobody is really looking at him.

But he feels frozen to the spot anyway, unable to move, unable to do anything. It’s not until Connie reaches his side and takes his hand, giving it another reassuring squeeze, that he’s able to start walking towards the convention center with her. He feels more naked than if he was actually naked, somehow, and something about Connie’s hand in his makes him blush.

“Later, honey!” yells Doug from the car, startling him and causing a few people to stare.

“Bye, dad! See you soon!” yells Connie back, turning and waving. She turns back around and looks back down towards Steven. “You sure you’re alright?”

“I’ll be OK,” says Steven. “Thanks, Connie.”

“Just try to… act like Sailor Moon? Strong and confident! A leader!”

Steven giggles. “She’s not much of a leader…”

“...Would you believe I’ve never watched Sailor Moon?”

“No way!” Steven gasps. “I thought _everybody_ watched Sailor -”

They both come to a stop as a stranger, dressed up in red and black spandex and wearing a jester’s hat, comes up to them, waving their hand. Their other hand has a phone in it. “Excuse me? Excuse me, you two kids?”

Steven smiles at the stranger, but Connie speaks up first, adopting what Steven assumes she thinks passes for a deep and masculine voice. “Yes? What can I do to help you?”

“You two are _so cute,_ oh my god! Archimicarius and Sailor Moon, what a combo! Can I get your picture?”

Connie seems momentarily taken aback, returning to her normal voice. “Well, um, I guess so… is that OK with you, Steven?”

Steven feels his heart pounding. He looks nervously between Connie and the stranger, but then he grins, putting his hands on his hips. In his girliest, most Usagi-ish voice, he says, “Of course! Anything for a fan!”

The stranger takes their phone and holds it up. “Say ‘pudding’!”

“Pudding!” say Steven and Connie simultaneously, striking poses. The phone makes a shutter noise.

“Got it! Thanks so much, you two!” the stranger says, running back off to the rest of their group. The moment the stranger is gone, Steven and Connie break into a fit of giggles.

“That was fun!” says Steven, once he’s managed to stop giggling enough.

“Yeah!” Connie agrees. “I told you: people already love your costume!”

* * *

The longer the convention day goes on, the more fun Steven has. He’d almost forget he was wearing his costume at all, but all day, he gets compliments on it, praise for it, photos taken of it. He feels like the belle of the ball, or maybe a pop idol celebrity - and it feels _good._

He does all kind of things with Connie that day. They go to a karaoke event and Steven sings “Moonlight Densetsu,” the Japanese theme to Sailor Moon. He’s nervous at first - he’s sung in public before, but never like _this -_ but he gets really into it, strutting around the stage and ending with a big slide across the stage for a photo finish. Everyone claps, but nobody claps harder than Connie, who is crying by the end of it.

While Connie goes to the merch room, he goes to the video game room and plays Dance Dance Absolution: 3rd Arrangement. Having played it many times at the Funland Arcade, he absolutely demolishes it. He also plays a few rounds of Super Clash Sisters: Tussle, using his favorite character Princess Carrot. He’s not as good as that game, but he actually manages to hold his own against more experienced players. Every time he plays a game, people crowd around him to compliment his costume and take pictures.

But eventually, he misses Connie, so he leaves and goes to join her in the merch room. His dad gave him everything he had, but he doesn’t want to spend too much of his father’s money - it’s not like he’s going to come into some sudden windfall, after all. He only earns so much from the car wash!

It’s hard for Steven to resist buying everything he sees - there’s _so many_ figures of Sailor Moon characters, Nintembo characters, even Crying Breakfast Friends characters. There’s plushies and manga and _life-size statues_ and tons of DVDs, more than he could watch in an entire lifetime. He wants it all, but he realizes that Connie has even less money than he does, so he offers to buy Connie something too. They leave with a full-size volume of the entire Sailor Moon manga and a set of figurines of characters from the Studio Babidi anime adaptation of A Spirit Morph Saga (the one Connie complains got all the details wrong).

After that, they head to the Artist Alley, where they end up spending the rest of their money on art and merch. Connie says that Steven is almost _too_ nice - whenever someone compliments his costume, or whenever he sees a Sailor Moon print or pin, he can’t help buying something. By the time he’s done, he has a whole set of Sailor Moon prints and pins tucked into a bag for safekeeping. He’s not sure where he’s going to put them all.

Finally, at long last, the day starts to come to an end. There’s a junior costume contest, which Connie all but begs Steven to participate in. He does - he doesn’t win anything, but getting on stage and posing and getting his picture taken makes him happier than anything. He tries to get Connie to join too, but she declines - “maybe next year,” she says. Steven understands.

After that, the convention closes for the night and, tired and sore, they walk back to Doug’s car to be picked up.

On the car ride back to Connie’s house, they laugh about the day’s events.

“I’ve never seen you so happy, Steven!” she says, grinning.

“I guess you could say I was…” he says, unable to stop himself from grinning even wider. “ _Over the moon._ Ba dum tsh!”

Connie giggles. “I’m serious, Steven. You really had a lot of fun today.”

Steven nods. “Yeah, I did!”

Connie reaches out and takes Steven’s hands in hers, then immediately blushes. Steven blushes too, even though they’ve held hands several times before that day. But neither one of them take their hands away. “Steven… what I’m trying to say is...”

Steven gulps. “Yeah, Connie?”

“If you ever… if you ever want to dress up like this again, I’ll be there for you. I’ll support you. Because I...”

Steven stares into Connie’s eyes, his blush deepening.

“I want you to be happy. Like today. Always.”

Steven almost lets out a sigh of relief. Wait, he thinks. What was he _expecting_ her to say?

“OK, Connie,” he replies. “Thank you.”

And then they let go of each other’s hands and look pointedly away from each other. From the front seat, Doug stares at them through the rear-view mirror and smiles.

When they arrive at Connie’s house and wave goodbye to each other, they’re both still blushing.

When Steven arrives home at the temple and sets his full volume of the Sailor Moon manga on his shelf, putting his prints up on his wall with thumb tacks, he’s still blushing. And when he tries to sleep, he thinks about Connie’s hands on his and blushes more.

He looks at his print of his favorite ship, Haruka and Michiru, looking into each other’s eyes, holding hands, and blushing just like he is. And thinks… maybe…

That he wants to be the Michiru to Connie’s Haruka.

But that’s way too embarassing of a thought! He covers his blushing face with his hands and groans.

Besides, it’s not like Connie would ever feel that way about him…

Right?

But… he thinks… but she’s so supportive of him. Even when he dressed up in a skirt and a wig, which he had been so scared of, she had supported him every step of the way and then some. He couldn’t ask for a better friend, a better… a better _girlfriend?_

He wonders what it’d be like to grow old with her. He looks down at his Sailor Moon costume in his laundry and wonders would he… would he dress up like this all the time? Not as _Sailor Moon,_ of course, but as a _girl?_

Would he be… he dares to think it… would he be _Connie’s_ girlfriend? Connie’s _wife?_ Would Connie still accept him, still care for him, if he was… if he was a girl? Would she still _love him?_ Or, er, her?

Of course she would, he thinks. Connie would support him no matter what.

But… being a girl, _becoming_ a girl… he swallows... that’s almost too scary of a thought. Maybe he should put that aside for now. He’s happy just being Sailor Moon, Usagi, for a day.

He tries to sleep, memories of the convention playing in his head.

Memories of people accepting, loving him. Memories of people taking his picture, listening to him sing. People complimenting, praising him. And all while he wears an adorable skirt and a wig.

He smiles.

Maybe being a girl... doesn’t sound so bad.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you to my friend Ivy for betaing this fic!


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